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One person was killed and four members of the security forces were wounded in clashes Saturday in the troubled southern Yemeni town of Dhaleh, witnesses said.

Clashes erupted when security forces opened fire "without justification" on a resident, the witnesses said, adding that several townspeople responded by opening fire on the security forces.

The exchange of fire, which lasted more than one hour, left one resident dead and four soldiers wounded.

The trouble started after a meeting between local tribal dignitaries and was the latest of a string of incidents in the area, which was rocked by clashes last year between soldiers and local residents.

Thousands of people in March took to the streets of Dhaleh, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the north of the port of Aden, calling for the release of prisoners and the demilitarization of the town.

Residents of Dhaleh, a province dotted with military posts, also want soldiers of the former South Yemen to be integrated into the Yemeni army, following the country's May 1990 unification and a 1994 north-south civil war -- ADEN (AFP).